Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to mounting systems for solar panels, and more particularly, to mounting systems for solar panels that reduce or eliminate the need for hardware such as screws, bolts, or the like.
Given concerns about pollution, global warming and rising energy costs, many companies are trying to become more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. One way to achieve these goals is to use solar energy to produce electricity and/or heat water. Many commercial buildings have flat roofs. These large open roofs are ideal for placing an array of solar panels. However, many problems are encountered when solar panels are placed on a flat roof.
The flat roofs of commercial buildings include a large proportion of the solar panel arrays built in the U.S. and elsewhere. If the arrays should require many penetrations of the roof in order to fasten the panel mounting structures, such penetrations carry a risk of producing roof leaks. It is for this reason that building owners often require that solar panel arrays and other such auxiliary objects be free standing on the roof and not be physically attached to the roof nor penetrate the roof membrane. In many ground-mounted applications, it is likewise desirable or required to mount solar panel arrays without physical attachment or penetration of the ground.
If solar panel arrays cannot be secured in place on a roof or on the ground using fasteners, they must still be designed to be wind resistant. Solar panels are large flat structures. Gusts of wind acting under a solar panel can create lifting forces large enough to displace the solar panel. While solar panels can be weighted to increase wind resistance, roofs and some ground sites, such as landfills, have weight load limitations, and ballasts can be expensive. Solar panel arrays must be made light so as not to indent the mounting surface or combine with a large snowfall to surpass its weight capacity.
As a further complication, solar panels are rarely installed flush against a mounting surface. In most latitudes, solar panels are most efficient when mounted at an inclined angle. Accordingly, solar panels are traditionally placed upon some type of support framework that holds the solar panels at an incline. Mounting solar panels at inclined angles, however, exposes the underside of the panel to the wind and greatly reduces the wind resistance of the array.
The above-mentioned problems are conventionally addressed by using complex mounting frames that hold solar panels upon a flat surface. The mounting frames include a network of interconnected brackets that hold the solar panels at inclined angles. Weights are attached to the mounting frames to increase wind resistance. Lastly, wind deflectors are connected to the mounting frames to prevent winds from reaching the undersides of the solar panels. Such a prior art solar panel mounting system is exemplified by the RAPIDRAC system currently being marketed by Unirac of Albuquerque, N.Mex.
However, such systems are overly complex. In order to place even a small solar panel array on a roof or ground site requires the assembly of hundreds of different brackets, weights, and wind deflection panels. The complexity of such mounting systems adds significantly to the time, cost, and labor of installing a solar panel array. In addition, the mounting systems contact the roof only in the location of the support brackets. This concentrates the weight of the solar panel array to specific lines along the roof or ground surface.
It would be desirable to provide a mounting system for solar panels that can be installed using very little time and labor, and with relatively few parts. It is further desirable to integrate features into solar panel frames that would facilitate such a rapid and simplified mounting system while still maintaining compatibility with conventional mounting systems.